February 2026 summary

February was an eventful month, and there are both good and bad updates.

Bad news first.

We had an incident where during our lunch break, someone outside the sanctuary took that opportunity to throw the remains of two animals onto the property (not pictured). When we returned outside we immediately secured the area, did a full sweep of the grounds, and called the police and hokenjo (animal control). The police visited and a formal report has been filed. We do not know the motivations of the person that did this, but it was quite upsetting. Our animals’ safety is our highest priority, and we are grateful for the fast response from the AnimO team as well as the local authorities. Additional security measures including cameras and signage will be installed as soon as possible, and local police patrols will be increased.

Mina has received a cancer diagnosis and will need to undergo treatment for that in the near future. It is a stressful time, and she is grateful to have a fantastic team of medical professionals, friends, community members, Patreon supporters, and social media followers to help her through this. Read her post on Patreon.

We got a significant amount of snow for our area, which is unusual. Locals have told us they’ve never seen winters this cold here before. Whether this is a one-off or a glimpse of what climate change has in store for us, it is clear that we will need to adapt. That means rethinking most of our outdoor enclosures and investing in more solar panels, batteries, and safe heating solutions than we originally planned for.

The up side of this is that the dogs had a great time in the snow. Video link: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1Abqnqo1Hi/

Now some good news!

A TV crew filmed at AnimO for an upcoming program later this year. They were genuinely kind, curious, and clearly touched by the animals and the work that is happening here. We are excited to have a chance to show an insider’s view of AnimO – not just the animals, but the daily reality of building something like this from the ground up.

The paperwork has been completed and a Type 2 Animal Handler’s License has been awarded! This has been a real journey, we’re working with so many different species and the scope of the sanctuary is unlike what the authorities have dealt with before, but through many meetings and creative problem solving, it is done!

Thank you to everyone on the Patreon, as well as everyone else that sent or brought packages of supplies. Every single donation is appreciated!

If you know someone who wants to support AnimO, or if you want to help more, there are lots of ways!

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